Monday, September 14, 2009

Smoking Ordinance - Down for the Count!

by Greg Walters
I have been out of town for the last week and a half so I had some catching up to do this weekend on what has happened in Raytown in my absence. Most surprising, at least to this writer, is that the much cussed and discussed smoking ordinance failed to pass muster with the Raytown Board of Aldermen.
Failed is a weak term. It was trounced. At the end of all the debate, compromises and political maneuvering, the bill died a quick death by a vote of three “yes” to seven “no” votes. For the record, the "YES" votes were Aldermen Jim Aziere, Jim Hamilton and Pat Ertz. Voting "NO" were Joe Creamer, Shane Pardue, Christine White, Bill Van Buskirk, Charlotte Melson, Michael Lightfoot and Steve Mock.
So, what happened?
Ordinances banning smoking in public places have been hot items these past few years. Whenever public votes are held on the issue, as was done in Independence and Lee’s Summit, the voters usually show their support with landslide results in favor of the bans. Even in Kansas City, where a large tobacco firm underwrote a campaign against a smoking ban, the public still voted its approval of a ban.
In Raytown, the ordinance has had a tortured path at best. Ward 2 Alderman Jim Aziere pushed and shoved for nearly two years to finally get the ban on the agenda. His persistence paid off and he had his day – so what went wrong?
In retrospect . . . plenty.
The city hired an out of town consultant to help guide the Board through the process of writing the legislation. The final bill is not in, yet. But city staff did budget $7,800.00 for a consultant to shepherd the bill through the legislative process.
Was it a waste of money? You tell me. For $7,800.00 the City of Raytown basically paid for a copy of a Blue Springs, Missouri ordinance. But that is not what cost the votes on the bill.
The anti-smoking ordinance considered by the Raytown Board was a compromise. It allowed smoking in some restaurants and bars. Normally, this compromise would satisfy even the most ardent opponent to anti-smoking legislation . . . however, this is Raytown. And the current Board of Aldermen is a very interesting mix of people.
I count three that are very conservative.
But in their conservatism they saw the anti-smoking legislation as a slap at the personal freedoms of smokers and business owners. Still, that is only three votes.
Another block of the Board is unique because they are smokers. So it is understandable that they would be opposed to legislation banning a habit they practice. That brought the total to five "no" votes.
What really drove the nail through coffin of the anti-smoking legislation was language that some thought would make the bill more palatable to supporters of the legislation. That language banned smoking in establishments where people 18 years and younger were present. This pretty much eliminated bowling alleys, some restaurants and any business where young ones may gather with their parents.
The Board was on the right track when it worked out a compromise on the legislation that would have exempted areas where smokers routinely gather. But they reached too far by including the exclusionary language setting age limitations.
A hard lesson learned . . . and one that will cost Raytown. Why?
Because people often times vote with their feet. They don’t go to restaurants where smoking is allowed. Those super-majority victories in Lee’s Summit and Independence for the anti-smoking crowd were not an accident. They clearly showed that the majority of the people living in those areas are very opposed to smoking in public places. Raytowners are not that much different than those living to the north and east.
Perhaps Aziere will be able to regroup his forces and work for a compromise that is not so limiting in its scope. But given the tendency of this administration to drag its feet on darn near everything it is unlikely that will happen anytime in the near future.
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL RECORDSWatch this page for regular updates of local high school varsity sports.O'Hara High School.....................3 win / 0 lossRaytown High School...................1 win / 2 lossRaytown South High School............2 win / 1 loss

48 comments:

Too bad we are a 4th Class City or this issue could be put up for a vote. More wasted money. First $20K for a survey with 60% of those polled stating they wanted Raytown to be smoke free. Then the cost of the consultant! What is the City Attorney for? Why do we need an outside consultant?

The people have spoken (on the survey). The people have no rights.

I can see both sides of the issue. At first I was against the smoking ban but after reading about a city with a smoking ban having fewer heart issues, I changed my mind. 2nd hand smoke is a health issue. One problem I could see with the ordinance is it is unenforceable and puts the burden on the owner of the business rather than the smoker. Business owners are not the Police or code officers!

I would like an ordinance prohibiting unattended idling vehicles. These are a real pollution problem as well as a safety hazard.

Just a reminder of the sources of the bans and the coalitions, more concerned with "social change" than the bans themselves:

http://www.rwjf.org/pr/product.jsp?ia=143&id=14912

And what the 99 million dollars was going to. Note on page seven the "inside -out", provision going for patios later, AFTER business owners spend thousands of dollars to build them to accommodate their smoking customers, clearly showing that the tobacco control activists have ABSOLUTLY NO CONCERN about local issues or businesses.

http://www.no-smoke.org/pdf/CIA_Fundamentals.pdf

Here's the cheap and easy "model ban" from page eight that many communities copied, printed, and passed. It's the "smoking ban for dummies" It only takes a few minutes to fill in the blanks naming your community, the administrators names, and blanks to customize it to your community according to the width of your sidewalks.

Like paying higher taxes and want that ghetto experience without moving to the inter city. No longer a problem – Raytown has many homes that are run down and either for sale or rent. You might even find yourself lucky enough to live down the street from one of the less maintained properties owned by on of our fine alderman.

Our swimming pool might close early every year compared to other communities and the fees might seem high, but former alderman Knabe welcomes all to his mud hole of delight at 79th and Spring Valley. You will find more then plenty of parking across the street at the Hay Bail Maze. Be careful while walking through the maze not to step on any of the wildlife, snakes and mice.

For those wishing to see the local art culture just drive down to our former downtown. The backside of Raytown Plaza offers a collection of graphic tags along with broken and boarded windows to delight even the most experienced artistic taste. Kids can enjoy our own version of Jacobs Ladder by attempting to walk the walk of death in the NW corner of the parking lot.

What is any city with out is own house of horror! Just visit the one at 8510 Stark, this lovely creating has been a favorite of the neighbors for the past several years.

You can see why this is definitely the town to celebrate your inter sole of ghetto in the suburbs. We hope you enjoy the accommodations that our city leaders have worked so hard to bring to our community.

Can somebody please tell me why our elected officialsspend taxpayer's money for and on so many consultantsand surveys?Fifty thousand for this, twenty thousand for that, seventy five hundred for something and even more that I can't think of right now.We don't need aldermen, city administrators, city lawyers,economic directors,finance directors, community developmentdirectors or even public works directors. They are all just a wasteof time and money.Apparently, all we need is a consultant firm to make the decisionsas to how this town should be run.Doesn't this just confirm the fact that nobody at city hall knows what they are doing? Or better yet, they don't know how to do their jobs.

The old Wal-Mart will close on or around the 22nd ofOctober and the new will open 23rd.Be ready for crime to increase in that area and property values togo down even more as well. I guess we should thank city hall forlowering our property values but I just can't. Because with that comesDeterioration of this town we all care about so much.We all knew it was going to happen but the reality is near.

Before you start blameing our alderman for code problems, put the blame where it belongs and that is on the shoulders of the staff at city hall. Beth Lin is glued to the seat of her chair, Nancy Thompson, (which by the way, we don't need a full time attorney)will stand by the side of the person who is the offender, rather than work to clean up the city. And of course the Mayor(the devil himself) thnks we should solve these problems by talking to our neighbors. I will be happy to do this IF I take my gun with me for protection. Wonder if Mayor has ever tried to talk to some of these people. Come on get up and do something for which you get a healthy paycheck for. Signed, SG (tired of being taken advantage of by our city staff.,which gets praised every council meeting, and for doing what?)

Great! As if it was not hard enough to get around and through Raytown on 350 Hiway, now we have two more traffic lights to have to deal with! Most of us just want to get home to Lone Jack and beyond, we do not need any more delays. If I want to shop somewhere, I will go somewhere else where the taxes are less. This is the making for a big traffic snarl and lots of crime locally. Time to move out!

Simple Joe (Creamer) blames the failure of the bill to pass on the economy (duh, I know, it has me scratching my head too). He actually said that a smoking ordinance would hurt the local economy! Go tell that fairy tale to Lee's Summit, Independence, Kansas City and nearly every other city in the metropolitan area, Joe. It does not fit!

Christine voted against it because it was not strong enough! That doesn't wash. White has spoken out against a smoking ordinance too many times because it infringed on the business owner's rights. Keep your stories straight, Christine. Waffling around with that shotgun approach will make people think you are trying to be manipulative and down right sneaky.

But the award for "I won't answer that question with an honest answer" has to go to Mayor Bower.

It has so much double-speak in it that it makes your head ache.

He carries on about how everyone worked together, and that "the cooperation that came out of the process was phenomenal".

Then he says that the process was unique to Raytown and that he was "proud of the outcome".

So, let's get this straight, Dave. You spent over $50,000 to learn that the over-whelming majority in Raytown want a smoking ordinance. You spent an additional $7,800 to hire in a consultant to get the bill passed.

The ordinance falls like a house of cards and you are proud of the outcome!

Please, don't give us anymoe success stories like this one.

The whole mess makes you wonder if the Three Stooges are being brought back. Instead of Larry, Moe, and Curly you would have David, Joe and Christine.

Jim Aziere said in the KC Star that he will "encourage peopleto stay out of restaurants in Raytown that allow smoking."How there's a city leader for you. He didn't get his "clean airproposal" passed so he will try to put more Raytown businesses out of business. Way to go Jim! That's watching over the citieseconomy. I think he needs to see his job description again. He issupposed to work for the people and businesses in Raytown nottry to run them off.I don't care if you are for or against the smoking ban, this is no way for an elected official to act. An elected official should never tellanybody to stay out of his town's businesses.

Pat: I agree Jim should handle things better like work to partition local business to go smoke free. He should also be asking himself why the smoking ban failed. Could it be he couldn’t drag himself to any of the meetings?

I would say on occasions like business hiring illegal individuals that then it would be very appropriate to encourage others to not patronize the business. I can think of at least one business in Raytown that has had a habit of doing just this. These types of business still from those legally in our country, take advantage of the illegal, and don’t pay all the taxes they should. So we as a society would not missing anything from their abuse of the system. Funny…I bet these are the business Raytown City Hall would celebrate!

Watcher, Thanks for pointing out the article. I missed it. That type of non-speak is typical for politicians. Just like Dictator Obama (aka Big Brother) is full of double talk.

The State of California has had a smoking ban for sometime and I don't see a negative impact on the economy there for the smoking ban.

I wonder why Walmart in this area seems to attract crime. What is unique in the KC area? I have been to Walmart in several other cities and never noticed the criminal element. I am surprised the one BOA member didn't set a closing time in the TIF!

Do we have a police department? I ask, as since April election I don’t see them patrolling any longer. On I do hear them and see them going on calls. I also see them on the main streets, but not in the neighborhoods anymore.

They must be following Lynch’s example. I would see him out before the April election pushing his taxing ways and scare tactics. Now that he got his way he has gone back into hiding and the police have forgotten about all the side streets. What a shame this man is takes from us working folks to do nothing. Kids are being shot on 63rd Street; kids are smoking weed at Kenagy Park and Jim still seats in the dark. Smiling and counting his high paying check while the hard working forks sweet and pray a stray bullet doesn’t come our way.

Did it having any thing about Shame (Shane) Pardue. This guy is running a hard race with his elected counter part Lightly Done (Michael) Lightfoot to see who can least maintain their property.

Now we all know they are elected officials so they are about the law. They also both own their properties so they are above any thinking that Simple Joe (Creamer) can come up with for maintaining property.

It seems these three are part of the new rock group the “Clueless Boys” With rocks being in their heads based on the latest voting they have done.

Happy days are here again… Higher taxes blowing in the wind… How the smell of our money makes Bower so happy. Taxing you, taxing me…Bower is finding new ways to tax thee. What a loving kind man he is when he can tax us to no end.

Happy days are here again…Sign of the ghetto moving in… How the signs of decay makes Bower so happy… Blight here, blight there…Bower is finding new ways to bring blight our way. What a loving kind man he is when we end up with nothing in the end.

Happy days are here again…Closed up business all around… How vacant storefronts make Bower so happy… Vacant property for you and me... Bower is finding new ways to impact our shopping opportunities every day… What a loving kind man he is when we will no longer having local places to shop.

Destroying our city is his dream…Seems he is off to a good start. His fellow elected friends doing their part. Not maintaining their own property and keeping our city non-smoke free. What a loving kind man he is when his personal believes has us paying the price for his miss judgments on Board of Alderman nights.

IF and I again say IF an alderman was ever cited for a code violation, how would it be prosecuted? The muni judge obviously would not be impartial since a conflict of interest exists. Therefore, it is useless to attempt to enforce codes against an Alderman.

If enough of Raytown becomes a ghetto, Dictator Obama could bring in bulldozers to remove the blight.

It looks as if Alderman Aziere had been smoking the wacky weed when he gave his statement to the Kansas City Star. He votes to gives the city away to Wal Mart, and to bring in a high paying economic development director and then he opens his mouth and not only does he insert foot but the whole leg and tells the citizens to go some where else to eat. Way to go Jim Bo

We have a sorry bunch running this town.Tax after tax and no services to show for them. Taxpayer money being spent on monuments like the "Gateways" is asinine.Aldermen that won't obey the laws (codes) of the town they "represent,"and I use that term loosely, aldermen that when they don't get theirway threaten to tell people to stay out of local businesses, as ifthey hadn't hurt local businesses enough with their bad decisions.I think this blog should revisit the "fix this eye sore" and post picturesof our code breaking aldermen.Any aldermen that doesn't obey the laws of the town they representshould be asked to step down. An alderman that threatens to hurt businessesby telling people to stay out of them should also be asked to step down.These people are not good for this town. How can these people expect others to keep up their property if they don't? How does an electedofficial expect respect when he doesn't respect the people and businessesof the town that elected him?Here's when a good local paper would come in handy.Where are you Lee?

Alderman Aziere sounds like a little boy who lost at a game of marbles... All I can say is grow up! If Mayor Bower had given his response on television he could have at least said the teleprompter was not working correctly and that is why I didn't make any sense!! I don't have an explanation for Joe Creamer except he didn't think before he opened his mouth, which is pretty normal.

At the Planing & Zoning meeting, It was mentioned that Marvin Garden is going to become a parking lot for USA 800.

I am not sure we need more of an asphalt or concert jungle, but it should be an improvement from the build that did stand there and the grass that ever seemed to be mowed in a timely manor.

Several weeks ago, I reported that Title Max were trying to sneak installation of a pole sign pass all of us. At that time, someone told me at city hall the city was working on the problem and the sign should be removed. I noticed today that the pole sign is down and Title Max is now in compliance at least with the sign.

I still have concerns that Raytown doesn’t need any more title loans, payday loans, or pawn shops. How are our local corresponding businesses going to survive with these large chains coming into our city?

I also am concerned about them taking advantage of our citizens as several years ago a friend shared a receipt their daughter had from a national payday loan company that indicated 394% interest.

I also think many would agree the urine yellow paint color of choice for the one at Raytown and 350 sticks out like a sore thumb.

This seems like such a minor complaint, but here goes. Raytown has U-Verse TV for one of its cable company's but they don't carry the public channel. We aren't always able to attend the meetings & therefore miss out on what is going on in Raytown. Especially since the newspaper left us high & dry. Does anyone have any connections to try & get U-Verse to program the meetings?

IN regard to U-Verse brodcsting Raytown govt. channel.I spoke to Dan Berry Raytown I.T. person about this back in June.He has meet with U-verse and will try to get it in the Raytown 2010 budgetwhich comes up Nov.1st.you can call737-6000 and ask for him to see what the latest is.

4:40PM, I don't pay for cable so am in the same situation as you. Why not go to www.raytown.mo.usYou will find current agendas but the minutes of a meeting may be a meeting late because they have to be approved. Anyway the meetings are now summary minutes which don't have any detail about who said what.

Rich, I am surprised about 1-800-CALL-USA parking lot. I saw that building advertised for sale and thought they were gone.

Thanks for getting that Title Loan sign into compliance. I am opposed to that type of business on moral grounds. It is usury and I thought the AG was cracking down on them. I would like to see them shut down. Banks and credit unions make loans at legal rates but the people who are being ripped off are those with poor credit ratings.

I don't think anyone would lose their job by writing up analderman for codes violations but, we all know City Hall is a clubhouse. In their eyes none of them can do wrong. In fact they are the only people that think they are doing a good job so they have to stick together.I have dreams of huge voter turnout and all of these bozos are removed. But, alas it's only a dream.

6:59AM, A huge voter turnout is Raytown is not a dream. It would take a miracle. No matter how bad things are 80% of the citizens are apathetic. Very few have a say in any election. If it was the other way around and 80% voted, I would be more confident. There simply are not enough people voting to vote an incumbent out except a good, honest one who was voted out by deceipt and lies.

It would be illegal and there would be a big lawsuit if a codes inspector was fired for citing an Alderman. Court would be impossible because of a conflict of interest with the muni judge.

My father was an aircraft inspector. He observed a General smoking within 50 feet of the aircraft with no smoking withing 50 ft signs posted. He asked the General three times to please put out his cigarette and was ignored. Finally he knocked the cigarette to the ground and stomped it out. He then called the AP's and ordered them to remove the General from the area. The next day my father was called to the Base Commander's office thinking he would be fired but the base commander thanked him for doing his job. It could turn out either way, but a doubt our muni judge would convict someone who votes on her budget and salary.

Who cares how much the state and federal funds are? It's all OUR tax dollars and it it is a waste to use this money for cosmetic fixes, like the gateway and Raytown Road and Gregory. Why not use it to replace the bridge on 63rd street that is unsafe to drive on. Again another example of those screwballs at city hall having their priorities backwards.

I am really disappointed with Mayor Bower and Jim Aziere for their lack of leadership and wasting the taxpayer dollars on the smoking ordinance. If they can’t get the support of their fellow board members then how they can convince the general public about doing the right thing. Bower spent most of his time out of town and has no clue as to how to lead this city. It is embarrassing to live in this town.

How do you all feel about our Mayor, Alderman and Dept Heads being unavailalble on there off hours? Should we not expect some kind of response during those on duty hours even if it's good or bad? Did we not elect the Mayor and Alderman to be our representive at the city? Aren't the Dept. Heads hired by those we elected? Weren't those Dept. Heads hired to run those Depts. and be accountable for that job? Aren't we the taxpayer paying all of their salaries and most of the Dept. Heads are making 6 figure salaries? Does that not make us the taxpayer all of their boss? As their bosses we should be able to reach those people at anytime if we can't get a response to either a question or a problem in a reasonable amount of time during working hours? I have always in the past been able to call the Mayor and My alderman either at the office or at home or on their cell. I never had a problem getting a number for them anywhere they might be but now It seems that contact is limited to only when they want it. IS THAT WHY WE ELECTED them? They seem to have forgotten who is paying their salaries. When I call I expect a response because I do not call everyday, I don't even call once a month. But even if I did it's their job to to handle the problem or to answer the question in a reasonable amount of time. Even if it's an "I don't know but I'll find out and I'll get back to you."

I had a very enjoyable dinner at a bar last night. However, I would like to point out to Simple Joe (Creamer) Raytown didn’t make a dime off of me because I drove to Independence were the elated officials care about the health of the citizens and shoppers. For those that have not heard for the hundredth time Raytown is one of a very few communities still with backward health thinking when it comes to smoking.

Mayor Bower who likes to spend our tax dollars in unjustified ways spent $50,000 on a survey right after taking office. One of the questions was how do you feel about a smoke band. 60% responded they want a smoke band. Then instead of Bower and his merry followers giving the citizens what they want we waste more money and keep us in the dark ages.

What is next Mr. Mayor will the city start handing our “Luck Strikes” like the US government did with the military personnel in WWII?

Sad was I drove past Eclipse and Spanky’s on the way and thought if only Raytown was smoke free I could have keep my sales tax dollars in Raytown.

I hope next time you will think before you open your mouth Mr. Simple Joe (Creamer) because if you would get out of you cave more often you might know for fact that the bars and restaurants in Independence and Lee Summit are doing great and they are smoke free. The only customer base they have lost are the low lives. This is the same thing I am hearing from bars in Westport. Sad, but if the low lives are what is leaving the other communities because they are smoke free where do you think they now are visiting.

I know you are a simple minded individual, Simple Joe (Creamer) and things must be spelled out for you. The low lives that have seemed to dry up from the other communities are those ones that had been know to be in the possession of illegal substances with the intent to both us and / or sell. The bar owners looked the other way because it would cost them customers had they addressed the issues. Hum… sounds like the same song and dance for why they still want smoking in Raytown. This makes it clear it has nothing to do what is legal or in the best interest of society, but more about making the all mighty dollar.

8:01 PM, Using you logic there is more than one simple minded person on the BOA. Don't blame Bower, he can only vote if there is a tie. He made a statement at the BOA meeting that he preferred nonsmoking and goes elsewhere to eat because smoking is allowed in Raytown restaurants. He stated that in a public meeting so I will repeat it.

4:55PM, Many people think the work only 8-5, then go home. I wonder what on earth anyone would need a department head during the middle of the night? If you have a true emergency, Police Dispatch can call out people to take care of it. I don't see the need to call anyone at home on off duty hours because there is a procedure to take care of urgent issues.

Bower is NOT a leader. What will this guy say he has accomplished when he runs for re-election? He's has raised our taxes every time he got a chance, giving us the HIGHEST sales tax in the whole metropolitan area. Hope he runs, so I can work against him.

I wonder why the City Attorney didn't handle the smokeing ordinance? Paying an outsider to do someone's job is a waste of taxpayer's money. We are lucky they didn't hire ACORN or we would have a real mess.

Hey, Anonymous 8:01,You sound like Jim Aziere.Believe me I hate to defend any of our elected officialsthese days but, all the people that smoke are NOT low life'sand they are NOT all drug dealers!Yes, there are low life's in every walk of life however thereare no more "Low Life's" that smoke than there are whocomplain about things when that don't go their way.So, you and Jim Aziere keep on dinning out and shoppingin other cities, instead of voting to get rid of the elected peoplethat won't do what the people want them to do.After all that's the Raytown way. Stay home and don't vote andlet the idiots rule!

Lets face it, there are more important issues in Raytown than smoking! Bower, as any manger does, has to establish priorities. Smoking is not the most important. How about maintenance of streets and other city property, the budget, etc.

I was disappointed at the Alderpeople who voted NO. If it had been my Alderman, he would not receive my vote in the next election.

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The Raytown Report was first published on July 4, 1997 by former Raytown City Councilmen Garth Bare and Greg Walters.
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